I was up in Everett mid-day to run some errands so I threw the scope in the
car and headed up to Marine View Drive, to the Preston Point overlook from
American Legion Park. The closest Osprey nest, the one built on the light
standard, had two nestlings visible. We watched the adults feed them for a
while so the nestlings were quite active, raising their heads to take food
and spreading their wings. Their dark eye stripes were very visible.
Starlings are nesting in the "basement" of this nest. There were at least 6
adult Bald Eagles and several second-year birds moving around the mud flats
at the Snohomish River entrance. Double-crested Cormorants nesting on the
pilings on the north side of Smith Island were almost too numerous to count.
Among the Glaucous-winged Gulls I did count 17 Caspian Terns. There were
6-8 Great Blue Herons and then another 12 or so seen from North View Park,
looking out into Port Gardner Channel. On the exposed mudflats there were 2
Killdeer and 3 Least Sandpipers as well as several Crows. Farther out were
15-20 Canada Geese and a few Mallards, one drake in eclipse plumage. At
Marine Park adjacent to the 10th Street Boat Ramp the swallows were quite
active, flying low and close to us. There were Tree, Violet-Green, Barn,
and several young Barns with their shorter, white-banded tails. From North
View Park we saw a couple of other Osprey nests that appeared to have
nestlings. The Jetty Island ferry (Everett Parks & Recreation) starts
operating from the 10th Street Boat Ramp this Wednesday through September
4th. The boat starts running at 10 a.m. Wed-Sat and starts at 11 a.m. on
Sundays. While the last boat leaves Jetty Island at 5:50 p.m., it will run
until 8:30 p.m. on four Saturday nights: 7/16, 7/30, 8/13 and 8/27. Keep
it in mind for birding the island if you don't have your own boat.
cheers,
Carol Riddell
Edmonds